A Souffle for Your Thoughts
by DesiringMagic
Summary: It seems like the Doctor is starting to remember but is having trouble. So Clara tries to help him out. Set right after the regeneration of The Time of the Doctor.


"Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?" He asked franticly as the Tardis continued to rumble under their feet. Clara continued to stare in shock while grasping onto the railing for dear life. _Had he really forgotten how to fly the Tardis!? Does he know who I am? Does he even know who he is!?_

"Do you know or don't you!?" He shouted over the alarms. Clutching onto the console with one hand, he resumed to push buttons and pull levers with the other. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she lunged herself forward and latched onto the back of his coat to help steady herself.

"Hey! Be careful!" He took hold of her arm and pulled her up to hold onto the console just as she was about to fall onto the floor. After steadying herself a little, her eyes roamed over the controls. She quickly searched her memory for anything that had to do with flying the Tardis.

_Think! You have to remember something! Anything! Ugh! What were those things? What color? Red? Yellow? Blue? Blue!_

"Blue!" She shouted happily.

"Blue? What does that even mean!?"

"I don't know. That's all I can remember. Just press anything that's blue!" Taking opposite directions, they traveled around the console pressing anything that could be considered blue. With the Tardis still lurching, they came to stand next to each other again on the opposite side of the console. Setting their eyes on the last untouched button, they pressed it at the same time. The Tardis halted suddenly and sent both passengers onto the floor.

Clara sat up and turned toward a wide-eyed Doctor with a cheeky grin on her face. "The blue stabilizers."

The Doctor turned to her and her smile vanished once seeing his serious expression. But soon his expression changed and he burst out laughing. She couldn't help but giggle a little bit as well.

"Well, that certainly is an interesting way to get this new body going." He stood up with a groan and helped her to her feet. "Now, to more important matters." He turned to her, face clouded in confusion.

"Who exactly are you?" Clara's smile quickly disappeared again and tears sprang to her eyes.

"You really don't know who I am?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I mean, you must be important to me if I trust you enough to show you how to pilot the Tardis, but beyond that, I don't know. I just can't seem to remember. I don't even think I remember everything about myself besides the fact that I call myself 'the Doctor'. Are you alright?"

Clara had stopped listening to him a while ago. Her breathing was labored and her heart was beating way too fast as her mind raced. _He doesn't remember me. He doesn't know who I am. What am I going to do? My Doctor left me and now he doesn't know me at all! He left me alone!_ She could practically feel her heart clench in pain and she began feeling dizzy. Her world was falling out of place and she didn't know how to catch it.

Suddenly she felt herself slip and tip backwards.

"Clara!" Her hand reached out to grab onto anything and met warm skin. Her face collided with cool cloth and her legs steadied under her. Breathing heavily, she looked behind and saw the stairs that descended down under the consol. Turning and looking up she met the Doctor's worried expression.

"Damn it, Clara, you really need to be more careful. If I had been a second too late, you could have fallen and broken your neck!"

"You… did you just call me 'Clara'?" Hope sprang inside her. _Maybe he does remember._

"Yeah, why? Isn't that your name?"

"So you remember me!" Clara shouted with joy, grabbing onto his arms a little tighter than before.

"Uh, well, not really." He shrugged himself free from her hold in a way that made her feel like he didn't appreciate her touch. He walked toward the console, leaving her more confused and hurt than ever.

"Actually… I don't know why I called you that." He turned to her, brows furrowed. "I just saw that you were about to fall and… I don't know. It flew out of my mouth before I could think of anything else. It seems sort of impossible, doesn't it? That I don't remember anything about you but I immediately knew your name and had a burning desire to protect you… Why do you seem so impossible to me?"

Clara didn't know how to respond and his stare only made her even more nervous. She felt like a specimen under a microscope and wanted nothing more than to lock herself in her room and cry for hours. However, a distant grumble knocked that thought out of her mind and she saw the Doctor move a hand to his stomach.

"I think I'm hungry." Taking steps around the console, he came to a stop with his gaze on the floor.

"Oh great. It's all over the floor."

She moved closer and saw that he was talking about the bowl of fish fingers and custard. He bent down and took a fish finger, not before dipping it in the splattered custard, and brought it to his mouth.

"No, don't eat tha-" But it was too late. He chewed for a second before opening his mouth in disgust and letting the food fall onto the floor.

"That's utter rubbish!" He exclaimed, straightening up and cleaning his hands on his coat.

"You just ate that off the floor." She said, slightly surprised.

"I doubt it would have tasted better if it was still in the bowl. I need to get water to wash this taste out." Taking long strides, he soon disappeared into the corridor. Clara remained rooted to her spot. She didn't know how to react anymore. Should she cry? Should she laugh? Should she help him find the way to the kitchen?

Deciding that maybe she shouldn't leave him alone just yet, she made her way into the hall and headed for the kitchen. Thankfully he was already there… making a mess. Cabinet doors were open all over the place, boxes opened and some contents were spilled on the counters and table. Walking in, she looked down to see that she had stepped on a half eaten banana and tried to shake it off of her shoe.

"There you are! Why isn't there anything good in this kitchen?"

"Did you check the fridge? There's bacon, there's eggs, there's-"

"I mean something that's already made. Besides, I'm not really craving bacon and eggs." He looked over the mess on the counter, scratching the back of his head.

"Then what are you craving?"

"I want a soufflé."

"You… want a soufflé."

"Yeah, you know how to make them right? Can you make me one?" He asked, excitement evident in his eyes.

"H-How do you know I can make soufflés?" She asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. You just seem like someone who can. It's like you're Soufflé Girl, or something."

She couldn't help but smile at that. He was beginning to remember. All she had to do was help him along and if a soufflé was going to get him there then she would give him one.

"Well then, Doctor. If it's Soufflé Girl you want, it's Soufflé Girl you'll get." She immediately set to work, gathering the ingredients and bowls and placing them on the table after he had wiped it clean for her. The Doctor impatiently watched as she added ingredients and took several taste tests.

"Here, keep mixing the batter a little longer while I get the oven ready." She said, handing him the bowl. When she turned back she saw him dipping a finger into the bowl and licking it clean. She quickly swatted his hand away when he was going to dip his finger again and he frowned at her. She poured the batter and placed it in the oven.

"You're making a habit of eating food when you shouldn't, aren't you. Wait until it's ready." Silence came for a couple of minutes, neither knowing how to end it. After a while Clara began to pick up the mess only to be interrupted by his voice.

"You should have seen sandshoes. He had his fingers in any food you could think of. Most of it wasn't even his." She laughed at this.

"It's nice to see that I can still make you laugh, my Impossible Soufflé Girl." She froze and turned to face him. His equally surprised expression told her everything she needed to know.

"When did it all come back?"

"Well, everything about myself came back shortly after rummaging in the kitch-"

"Doctor." She said sternly.

"The moment you called yourself Soufflé Girl."

"And you didn't tell me!?" She slapped his arm and he backed away.

"You seemed so excited to make the soufflé! And I didn't want to ruin that. You seemed so happy for the first time after… all of this." He gestured to himself and she knew she couldn't stay mad at him.

"I would've made the soufflé for you anyways." She said lowly, tracing patterns on the table through the flour.

"I know, but I liked seeing that spark of hope in your eyes." She could feel herself blush at his directness. Definitely something to get used to.

"Seems pretty selfish of you." The smile tugged at her lips.

"I've always been pretty selfish."

"Nice to see some things don't change." She turned to him and saw her grin mirrored on his face. They met each other in a hard embrace, him lifting her off her feet for a second before setting her back down.

"Come now, Clara! Don't cry!" He brushed tears away from her cheeks and she smiled wider.

"You're not exactly leaving me any other choice after everything you did."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. Let's just forget it all. But please, don't lie to me again."

He nodded sheepishly and she pulled him back in for a hug. A sharp ding interrupted their embrace and the Doctor quickly pulled away, pushing her to the side a little roughly to head for the oven. He shrugged when he saw her slightly annoyed expression.

"What? I'm still hungry."

**Author's Note:**** So here's my little contribution to the regeneration mayhem. I'm very late with this but I couldn't think of anything I particularly liked and this was the last thing I came up with before giving up. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
